Cushioning and packaging strip



Jan. 9, 1968 L. G. FREEDY 3,362,609

CUSHIONING AND PACKAGING STRIP Filed Dec. 9, 1966 INVENTOR LESLIE G. FREEDY United States Patent 3,362,609 CUSHIONING AND PACKAGING STRIP Leslie G. Freedy, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Vanant Packaging Corp., Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation Filed Dec. 9, 1966, Ser. No. 600,533 5 Claims. (Cl. 229-14) This invention appertains to cushioning and packaging strips of the type utilized around the peripheral edges of fragile articles, to prevent injury to the same during shipping and storage.

Various examples of the basic strip are described and illustrated in the Cortright Patent No. 2,741,362 issued Apr. 10, 1956, and prior Van Antwerpen Patents Nos. 2,504,473 issued Apr. 18, 1950; 2,603,349 issued July 15, 1952; 2,776,745 issued Jan. 8, 1957; 2,888,134 issued May 26, 1959 and 3,101,166 issued Aug. 30, 1963.

Certain features and adaptations of the strip are also shown and described in prior pending application Ser. No. 538,315 filed Mar. 29, 1966, and entitled, Packaging and Cushioning Strip.

The basic strip illustrated and described in the above patents and pending application all generically include an outer base ply and an inner ply, the inner ply being provided with a series of spaced peaks which are slotted so that the material between the slots can be knocked down to provide a cushioning tongue and to receive the edge of the article to be cushioned, usually of glass and other types of fragile articles.

In a number of the patents, as well as the pending application, the strip illustrated is of a three ply type to include an outer flat base ply, an intermediate ply provided with a series of equidistantly spaced transversely extending nested cushioning peaks, and the inner ply overlying the intermediate ply; the inner ply also being provided with a series of spaced cushioning peaks over the peaks of the intermediate ply and generally the peaks of the inner ply are slit and the material between the slit broken down to provide the cushioning tongues which generally speaking overlie the cushioning peaks of the intermediate ply.

These cushioning strips are used for a number of different types of packing of various articles and sometimes are utilized around the peripheral edges of furniture, such as desk tops and the like. It has been found that when the cushioning strips are used with furniture, the paper board out of which the strips are fabricated presents rather hard and sharp edges to the furniture, and may in itself tend to mar the furniture while the same is being shipped, particularly Where jarring and the like takes place.

It is, therefore, a primary object of my present invention to provide a novel packaging and cushioning strip wherein the sharp edges of the side walls defining the slot receiving the article are protected so that the surface of the article received within the slots will not be marred or scarred in any way.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide an inner flexible soft sheet material overlying the inner ply and which stretches completely across the slot provided in the inner peaks so that when the article is received within the slot the material will provide a guard to prevent scarring and marring of the finish of the article.

A more specific object of my present invention is to provide a novel cushioning and packaging strip of the above character wherein an outer sheet of a softer and more flexible polyethylene material is provided and wherein the sheet is glued to the strip between the peaks and transversely of the same.

Still another object of my present invention is to provide a novel means for gluing a soft inner sheet over a cushioning and packaging strip in such a manner that when the slot in the inner peaks of the strip may be closer to one edge than the other, the inner sheet of soft material may be glued longitudinally to prevent the material from being pulled completely within the slot to expose a sharp corner.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a simple and reliable construction, that is economical to manufacture, easy to assemble and positive in its operation.

With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of the strips, hereinafter more fully described and illustrated.

One preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary top elevational view of one form of the cushioning and packaging strip, showing the inner overlay of soft material and the manner of aifixing the same to the inner strip;

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal vertical section, through the strip shown in FIGURE 1, the section being taken ont-he line 2-2 of FIGURE 1, looking in the direction of the arrows, illustrating how an article may be received in the slots provided in the inner strip and cushioned by the soft overlay strip, and

FIGURE 3 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2 of the drawings, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter S generally indicates one type of the improved cushioning and packaging strip, and for purposes of illustration, a three ply strip has been shown. The strip, therefore, generally includes a base strip 10, an intermediate strip 11 and an inner strip 12, and as shown and described in the prior patents mentioned, as well as the pending application, these strips are joined and secured together to provide a cushioning member for the peripheral edges of fragile and frangible articles. The base strip 10 is generally flat and the intermediate strip is provided with a series of spaced peaks 13, the upper surface 14 of which is of a flat configuration, and the inner strip 12 is likewise provided with a series of spaced peaks 15, which overlie the peaks 13 and generally the peaks 15 are of a triangular configuration. The upper surfaces are provided with a series of parallel slits so that the material between the slits may be knocked down to form cushioning tongues 16 and slots 17. It should be noted that the corners 18 of the slots and walls defining the slots, terminate in a sharp corner adjacent the upper end thereof, and in some instances, particularly where the article to be cushioned may have a finished surface that can be easily scarred or marred, the sharp corner will cause such marring and scarring of the surface. In order to prevent this, the cushoining strip S is provided with an inner overlay of sheet material 20 which is of a soft material, such as a soft polyethylene plastic and this sheet is generally glued transversely 'between the peaks 15, as indicated by the reference numeral 21. Thus, it can be seen that the sheet extends entirely across each slot 17 and when the article is placed within the slot, the sheet will provide a soft guard between the sharp corners 18 of the slot and the article A.

Although not illustrated, the slot 17 is generally located intermediate the ends of the peaks 15 and at the axial center thereof. In some cases, however, the slot is offset, as shown and illustrated in the drawings, i.e., more near one edge 22 than it is to the other edge 22 of the peak. When this happens, it has been found that the material overlying the short end adjacent edge 22 may be pulled completely into the slot and thus expose the corner 18 so that the article A can still be marred or marked. To alleviate this, and in the form of the invention illustrated, I also glue the longitudinal edge of the plastic sheet 20 adjacent the shorter length as shown. This longitudinal gluing is indicated by the reference numeral 23, and thus, note particularly FIGURE 3, when the article is placed within the slot 17 the material adjacent the edge 22, due to the longitudinal gluing 23, will hold as shown, and thus protection of the peripheral edge of the article is assured, particularly at the points 18, as previously noted.

In certain instances where only a base ply and intermediate ply are utilized, in other words, the cushioning and packaging strip is of a two ply nature, the soft overlay is placed in the same manner over the inner ply.

From the foregoing it is believed that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will, of course, be understood that changes may be made in the form, proportion and minor details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A cushoining and packaging strip of the type including a base ply and an inner ply, said inner ply being provided with a series of spaced cushioning peaks, each of said peaks being provided with slots intermediate their ends to receive the peripheral edge of the article to be cushioned, and a sheet of soft pliable material secured to said inner ply at points intermediate said peaks so that said soft sheet material completely extends across each slotted peak.

2. A cushioning and packaging strip as set forth in claim 1, wherein said sheet of soft pliable material is also secured by gluing longitudinally along one edge of the strip adjacent said slot.

3. A cushioning and packaging strip as set forth in claim 2, wherein said slot is located in close proximity to one edge of said peak.

4. A cushioning and packaging strip as set forth in claim 1, wherein said strip includes a base ply, an intermediate ply and an inner ply, said intermediate ply being secured to said base ply and including a series of spaced cushioning peaks and said inner ply overlying said intermediate ply also being provided with a corresponding series of spaced cushioning peaks overlying the cushion ing peaks of said intermediate ply, with slots intermediate the ends of said cushioning peaks of said inner ply.

5. A cushioning and packaging strip as set forth in claim 4, wherein said sheet of soft pliable material is also secured by gluing longitudinally along one edge of the strip adjacent said slot and wherein said slot is located in closer proximity to one edge of said peak adjacent the longitudinal gluing.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,192,992 3/1940 Bohnke 22914 3,101,166 8/1963 Van Antwerpen 229-14 MARTHA L. RICE, Primary Examiner. 

1. A CUSHIONING AND PACKAGING STRIP OF THE TYPE INCLUDING A BASE PLY, AND AN INNER PLY, SAID INNER PLY BEING PROVIDED WITH A SERIES OF SPACED CUSHIONING PEAKS, EACH OF SAID PEAKS BEING PROVIDED WITH SLOTS INTERMEDIATE THEIR ENDS TO RECEIVE THE PERIPHERAL EDGE OF THE ARTICLE TO BE CUSHIONED, AND A SHEET OF SOFT PLIABLE MATERIAL SECURED TO SAID INNER PLY AT POINTS INTERMEDIATE SAID PEAKS SO THAT SAID SOFT SHEET MATERIAL COMPLETELY EXTENDS ACROSS EACH SLOTTED PEAK. 